House Backs Bush Ban on Abortion Aid

A deeply split House on Wednesday endorsed President Bush’s order to ban U.S. aid to international family planning groups that perform abortions or take any step to promote them, such as discussing the procedure as an option for clients.

However, the 218-210 vote showed that foes of the policy had gained some ground in the House since last year and that Bush likely will continue to face political challenges on the aid issue and other abortion-related fights.

Abortion rights supporters vowed to try again to reverse the family-planning policy this summer when Congress takes up a must-pass foreign aid bill.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said White House lobbyists went all-out on Wednesday’s vote. So did abortion rights groups.

“There was a major effort by both sides,” said Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.), a key supporter of the Bush policy.

The vote came as the House was considering a bill to authorize State Department activities. With the vote, the House stripped a provision from the bill that sought to overturn a policy Bush had announced two days after he took office in January. The Bush administration had threatened a veto unless the provision was removed.

Abortion rights advocates could not have come close to overturning a veto, but merely forcing one from Bush would have further highlighted an issue that polls show tends to hurt him among swing voters, especially women.

The family planning policy affects the distribution to international groups of $425 million in aid that Congress approved late last year. The issue is a perennial hot button in the House. But it has new urgency this year because Bush’s inauguration changed the political dynamic. Bush reinstated a policy that President Reagan began in 1984 but that President Clinton discontinued in 1993.

Since 1973, U.S. law has prohibited the use of federal funds to pay directly for abortions in foreign countries. But abortion opponents say the added restrictions are needed to ensure that the U.S. does not indirectly subsidize overseas abortions or abortion counseling.

As is usually the case with abortion issues, an emotional debate ensued on the House floor when Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the International Relations Committee, proposed the amendment in favor of the Bush policy.

Hyde declared that the United States should not “subsidize abortionists and abortion lobbyists in foreign countries.” He said the Bush policy “puts a wall of separation between U.S. family planning programs and the international abortion industry.”

But Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who led the fight against the Bush policy, said Hyde’s amendment was “dangerous” and would “put the lives of millions of women and children at risk.”

Lee and other critics argued that the abortion restrictions amounted to a “gag rule” on groups overseas that would hinder legitimate family planning efforts and the distribution of contraceptives in some of the world’s fastest-growing but most-impoverished countries.

Last year, the House voted, 221 to 206, in support of abortion-related restrictions on aid to the international family planning groups. Clinton then thwarted the proposal during year-end budget negotiations.

In this year’s closer vote, 32 Democrats and one independent joined 185 Republicans in support of Bush’s policy. Voting to overturn the policy were 33 Republicans, one independent and 176 Democrats. Four members did not vote, and there are three vacancies in the House.

All of California’s 31 House Democrats voted against the Bush policy. All but three of the state’s 20 House Republicans supported it. The GOP exceptions were Reps. William M. Thomas of Bakersfield, Doug Ose of Sacramento and Stephen Horn of Long Beach.

Smith called Wednesday’s vote a defining test. “Why would anybody change after voting this way?” he asked.

But Lee said the question is far from settled. “We’re on the way to victory. We will win eventually.”

In another close vote on the State Department bill, the House approved an amendment sponsored by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) that would withhold about $625,000 in aid to Lebanon until that country secures its borders near Israel to help reduce Mideast terrorist attacks. The measure, which passed 216 to 210, also would direct the White House to develop a plan for terminating millions of dollars in other aid if Lebanon does not comply within six months.